She stood alone there among
the markers and carved stones; strange how little some things changed over
the centuries. Humans still buried their dead and marked their remains
with stones, the last 24 centuries with all its technological advances
had little effect on this basic human need to honor the memories of past
lives. It had been a long time since she stood here last, she hadn’t
come this time to honor the memory of his life, but to seek forgiveness
for her own life. Maybe forgiveness was not exactly what she sought,
understanding might be a better word, but could he have ever understood
her –what would he call it? Betrayal? Yes, he might see it as betrayal.

~~~^^^~~~

The klaxons were blaring,
the ship had gone to red alert and the Captain, along with the senior staff
struggled to reach the bridge—or what was left of it. This was the
fifth attack in just under ten hours and there wasn’t much left of the
once proud Starship. The first attack had taken out the warp core,
badly damaged the shields and left them with three hull breaches, sealing
which required more energy than they had to spare. The Captain ordered
the two affected decks evacuated and allowed them to decompress.
They had barely stabilized before the second strike, which shut down transporters,
lifts, navigation, impulse power and all but wiped out their escape pods.
By the end of the third attack, environmental controls were off line, two
more decks had decompressed and the casualties overflowed sickbay.
The forth attack took what was left of their weapons and severely threatened
life support. Voyager hung dead in space.

“Report.” She shouted
as she climbed from the jeffries tube. A long list of system failures
ringing in her ears, as she made her way across the bridge. “Tuvok,
shields?” It wasn’t an order, but a question—or maybe a prayer.

“Shields at 60% and holding,
Captain.” The calm steady Vulcan voice betrayed none of reality of
their situation.

“Harry, reroute all power—life
support, everything we’ve got –to the shields.” With nothing to fight
back with and no power to run, it was all they had left. “Brace for
impact.” She sat in her command chair, took one last glance at the
shambles of her bridge, the once state of the art starship that now was
little more than smoldering titanium and the crew that had fought so valiantly
to save her, saying a silent goodbye.

Wires sparked, consoles
exploded, the ship heaved and groaned under the assault, with life support
off line there was not even a filtration system to counteract the smoke
that filled the bridge. The ship rolled and many of the crew were
tossed, choking, from their stations. The Captain closed her eyes
against the tearing smoke and the last thing she remembered before the
ship bucked throwing her from her chair, was his hand reaching across the
console to cover hers.

~~~^^^~~~

She could hear sounds,
some muffled some louder, but she couldn’t understand them. The glare
of bright lights caused her to slam her eyes shut as soon as she opened
them, she wasn’t sure where she was, at this moment she wasn’t certain
who she was, but she was struck by the sudden realization that she was
alive. She thought it was an odd sensation to be amazed by your own
existence, but she didn’t expect to be alive and she couldn’t understand
why. She tried to focus on the sounds around her, just where was
here? She wasn’t sure and she still couldn’t hear or see anything
familiar, her head hurt and her eyes burned whenever she tried to open
them, so she lay still and let the darkness take her back.

~~~^^^~~~

The Captain wasn’t the
only one who hadn’t counted on being alive and many of the crew on the
lower decks didn’t survive that last attack. Yesterday Voyager carried
a crew of one hundred forty-seven, today fifty-seven of those were dead,
another thirty or forty injured, about half of those seriously and thirty
one were still unaccounted for. Seven decks had totally decompressed,
shields were down, navigation was off line and they had no propulsion whatsoever.
Transporters, lifts, replicators and environmental controls were all non-operational,
all remaining power had been routed to the inertial dampers, life support,
and sickbay with only minimal lighting through out the ship. The
comm. system was down and sensors both external and internal were off line.
They had no way of knowing if the enemy was still out there or when they
would be struck again. The tremendous force of the last blast had
propelled the ship backwards an unknown distance so, that without sensors,
they didn’t even know where they were.

Everywhere there were wounded
and startled crewmen, some trying to force themselves to function, some
just sat shaking their heads in disbelief. The most serious injuries
were in sickbay and the surrounding corridors, the others, the walking
wounded, patched themselves, and their friends, up as best they could and
tried to move on. The senior staff was no exception. With the
Captain unconscious in sickbay, Chakotay assumed command, limping through
the ship, his badly broken arm in a makeshift sling. He and the Captain
were the most seriously injured of the bridge crew, the others having only
superficial wounds, but Seven had been lost when her astrometrics console
exploded and B’Elanna was coordinating and effecting repairs with badly
smashed fingers, plasma burns and a host of smaller injuries to numerous
to count. The Doctor had his hands full, Tom and Samantha were working
with him, helping where they could, Harry was busy just trying to keep
the doctor, himself, on line and Neelix was still unaccounted for.

~~~^^^~~~

It was darker when she opened
her eyes again, the sounds were softer and her head didn’t hurt quite as
much anymore. She heard voices, not far away and strained to recognize
them. Her mind was clearing and she remembered they had been under
attack. She struggled to sit up, grunting audibly as she did.

“Kathryn.”

“Captain.”

The voices showed concern
as the two men rushed toward her. The names registered and the pieces
began to fall into place. She remembered now who she was, they were
still speaking but her mind was trying to make sense of a jumble of scattered
facts, she wasn’t listening.

“Kathryn.” He reached
out a hand to steady her, watching her as she studied him. “Kathryn,
take it easy.”

“Captain, how are you feeling?”
The Doctors concern drew her attention. “You took quite a hit up
there. Just be still while I scan you.” As he took his readings,
she sat quietly taking in all the wounded surrounding her, the visible
damage to the ship and the condition of her first officer. “Good,
you look fine Captain, though I would like you to rest.” He rolled
his eyes. “Yes, I know you are the Captain.”

“Yes, Doctor, I am, may
I go?” Unconsciously, her hand reached to rub the ache in her head.
She noted they were in no hurry, the immediate danger must be past.

“In a few minutes, let
me get you something for that headache.” The doctor stepped back,
nodding to Chakotay. “The Commander here can fill you in on what
has happened, while you wait. He left them, stopping at several biobeds
on his way across the room.

“How are you feeling?”

“Better than you, by the
looks of things.” She looked him over, taking note of the bumps and
bruises and nodding toward the sling.

“There were more pressing
matters.” He gave her a dimpled grin. “Doc. will get to me
when he has time.”

“As long as no one in here
is dying..” She looked at the now peaceful sickbay, with its mostly sleeping
patients. “And no one appears to be--- he will have the time now.”

“Kathryn I don’t…”

“You can brief me on the
ships status as he works.” She tilted her head to allow the doctor
to administer the hypospray. “Doctor, that will be alright with you?”

“Yes, yes of course Captain,
as long as you promise to remain seated while he briefs you----that will
be just fine.” He indicated that Chakotay should sit next to the
Captain on the biobed. “If you would Commander. Sorry Captain, we
are a little short of space.”

“Of course, Doctor.”
She rolled her eyes as she moved aside to allow him room. “Join me
Chakotay, please.”

“Why, Captain, I’m not
sure what to make of such an invitation.”

“I suggest you make the
best of it, Commander; it may be the only offer you get.”

“If you insist, Captain.”
He wiggled a little closer to where she sat.

“Ahh, hemm.” Clearing
his throat with an exaggerated noise, the Doctor reminded them of his presence.
“If you would stay still, Commander.” He removed the makeshift sling
and began scanning. ”Humm, not too bad, I’ll need an osteoregenerator,
I’ll…” He looked up ready to explain the nature of the break and
that he would be right back with the regenerator, but they were so intent
on smiling at each other, they didn’t appear to even notice him.
“Yes, well, nice to see someone is happy in this mess..” He looked
around and shook his head. “I’ll be right back, not that you will
miss me.”

“Err what doc? Did
you say…?” Chakotay look around. “Where did he go?”

“To me, Commander.”
The doctor returned and began the regeneration. “You were supposed
to pay attention to me.”

“Yes, and you are supposed
to be briefing me on the ships stasis.”

“Yes.” His smile
disappeared. “Well, you know about most of the system failures?”
He waited for her nod before continuing. “That last attack put almost
everything out. We have life support, inertia dampers, artificial
gravity on most decks and minimal lighting—most of the power is centered
in sickbay. In total we have seven decks blown out completely.”
He saw her grimace involuntarily, they both knew sudden decompression left
no time for evacuation. “We have fifty-seven fatalities, forty or
so wounded, mostly walking a few severe and thirty-one still unaccounted
for including Neelix. Most of the bridge crew is in good shape, engineering
suffered heavy losses, B’Elanna is among the walking and trying to get
us up and running.” He covered her hands with his free one, watched
as she braced herself for what she understood, by his actions, would be
worse news. “We lost astrometrics, Seven is among the fatalities.”

“I see.” Taking a
deep breath, she looked away for a moment then turned back, captain’s mask
now firmly in place. “And the other ship?”

“Nothing, We have no sensors,
but if it is still out there they would have attacked by now.”

“Our location?”

“No idea. We feel
certain we traveled a considerable distance with the force of that last
blast, but we have no way of knowing.”

“Yes.” She nodded.
“Doctor are you finished here? We need to see what we can do to help.”

“Yes, Captain. The
Commander is fine, but I would rather you stayed here for a while.”

“Understood doctor, but
I have a ship ---such as it is –to tend to and you have patients who need
your attention.”

“I must object to your
leaving, Captain.”

“Objection noted, Doctor.”
She slid off the biobed. “Commander, let’s have a look, shall we?”

Together they left sick
bay and climbed through the darkened ship to main engineering. B’Elanna
rebuffed all suggestion that she should seek medical attention, instead
working long into the night. Once main power had been restored and
shields were back on line, the Captain ordered her to report to sickbay
and not return to duty until she had gotten some sleep. Taking a bit of
her own advice, the Captain handed out assignments for the next shift and
returned to her own quarters.

Although exhausted, she
was unable to sleep and longed for a nice hot bath or at least a sonic
shower; neither was functional. Replicators were still off line so
even coffee was out of the question. She wandered around in the semi
darkness until she found herself staring out the view port, pondering the
stars. Strange, she thought, how even hanging here dead in space,
the stars were beautiful, strangely alluring and vaguely familiar.
That was an odd feeling—familiar stars---she was so accustom to new stars
every day of their journey. Suddenly, she hit her commbadge, when
it didn’t work she exited her quarters and headed next door.

“Chakotay.” She called
ringing the chime. “Are you in there?”

“Kathryn?” The door
slid back. “What’s wrong? I thought you were sleeping.”

“Couldn’t –come here.”
She took his hand and dragged him across his quarters to the view port.
“Look.”

“OK, Kathryn, at what?”

“The stars—look—really
look at them.” She watched him anxiously “What do you see?
Tell me what you see.”

“Stars—I see stars.”
He laughed, but looking at her serious expression he tried again.
“OK I see stars—is there something special I should see?”

“Look.” She pointed
and directed him toward a cluster of stars. “Take a good look at
that.”

“It’s a cluster of stars.”
He shook his head and tried again. “Looks like—no … “

“What, Chakotay tell me
what it looks like.” She was excited and impatient as a child.

“It looks like a crown
–Ariadne’s Crown.” He turned to face her. “Is that it?
Do you think that is the Corona Borealis?”

“Yes, Chakotay that exactly
what I think.” She grabbed his hand, pulling him toward the door.
“Come on.”

“Where?” He had to
laugh, in the mist of all this destruction she was suddenly giddy as a
little girl.

“Astrometrics, we need
to …” Suddenly, she stopped and grew somber. “I forgot.”
She let go of his hand and moved back to the view port. “I was excited
about the stars and I ---forgot..”

“Kathryn.” He moved
behind her pulling her back against his chest. “It’s alright.
You are still alive, it's OK to go on living and is OK to grieve, she was
your friend.”

“Yes, but we don’t have
the luxury of grieving, not yet. We still have half a crew to get
home and most of a ship to do it with.”

“That we do and if you’re
right, most of our work may already be done.”

“True, but with out sensors
or astrometrics---- the view screen.” She turned to him excitement
flashing in her eyes. “Chakotay, does the view screen work?”

“I don’t know.”

“Let’s find out.”
She took his hand and led him toward the door. “We can use it to
show us a magnification of the cluster and maybe others.”

They climbed to deck one,
making their way slowly across the deserted shambles of the bridge.
It took her over an hour of rerouting power, replacing relays and generally
hot wiring the thing, but when she was finished, the screen lit up.
They focused first on the Corona Borealis, sharpening and magnifying until
she was convinced what she saw was real. They spent hours viewing
and reviewing every particle of light they could find, carefully identifying
each new one until they were both satisfied that what they saw was real.
They were home, they had no idea how, but this was the alpha quadrant and
by crude calculation they were only a few weeks away from earth.

“I think we don’t say anything
until we are certain.” She was sitting on the deck staring out at
the stars. “Come sit.” She brushed debris off the deck next
to her.

“Someone may realize---just
the way you did.” He sat next to her on the cluttered deck.

“Maybe, but I don’t think
they will—not so quickly, they have so much to deal with.” She smiled.
“We could be home, Chakotay. I was beginning to think I would never
say that.”

“You never gave up---that’s
how we survived all these years.”

“No, not really, but it
wasn’t looking good.” She laughed. “Now what we have to do
is get communications on line. Help could be just around the corner
as they say.”

“We should enlist B’Elanna
and Harry.”

“Yes, I think we need to
bring in the entire senior staff. When we confirm this, I’ll make
a ship wide announcement.” She stood up and offered him a hand.
“Come on Commander, let’s wake up the staff.”

“OK.” He entered
the jefferies tube after her. “But you get to wake up Tuvok.”

“I’ll take Tuvok, if you
take B’Elanna.” She laughed

“Deal.”

They continued to laugh
as they climbed down to deck three, to collect the senior staff.
Tuvok was a little startled to find the Captain in his bedroom, but covered
his reaction a lot better than B’Elanna did when Chakotay woke her.
She was still mumbling klingon obscenities, when she and Tom entered the
Captain’s quarters. It didn’t take long to settle them down once
the Captain told them of her findings.

It took three hours and
all the ingenuity B’Elanna could muster, but the communication system was
back on line. They had tested the internal communications, then proceeded
to the bridge to try their first sub space transmission. It took
three hails but finally they received a response. Their first contact
with a federation vessel in the alpha quadrant came, fittingly enough,
in the form of Captain Rezucha Siegel of the Starship Deliverance.
The Deliverance was able to verify their identity and rendezvous with Voyager,
within four hours.

After the a ship wide announcement
and a small celebration both crews set about making repairs to enable Voyager
to return to Earth under her own power. Over the next weeks, the
work progressed and the subspace transmissions increased. The ship
was restored, all systems were functioning, some better than others, but
she was in good shape. The crew on the other hand had suffered irreparable
damage in some cases. In the final count, they had lost fifty- seven
immediately, never accounted for twenty-seven of the missing and two of
the seriously wounded had died. What remained of the crew, sixty-one
worn and battered individuals, had been physically restored to health,
their emotional status varied greatly and only time would help them heal.
Homecoming was not what they expected and even the anticipation of seeing
long lost loved ones couldn’t dampen the pain of their losses. Starfleet,
however, claimed to have big plans for the triumphant return of the Voyager
crew and informed the Captain they were sending a large fleet to escort
them home.

Rezucha and Kathryn had
become friends in the weeks they had worked together, and the two Captains
were in the Ready room, reviewing the final repairs, over a cup of coffee
when the transmission arrived.

“I don’t understand, we
worked out all the details.” She rose from the couch and recycled
her cup. “But is it intended for your eyes only, I leave you alone.”

“No, Rezucha, wait please.”
Kathryn turned to her terminal. “There is no audio, just let me read
this---have a seat.” Rezucha nodded and Kathryn returned to the screen.
She read the short message then read it again before looking up.
“The Enterprise, the Yamato, the Venture, the Galaxy and the Odyssey”

“What?” Rezucha’s
surprise was evident in her voice.

“The Enterprise, the Yamato,
the Venture, the Galaxy and the Odyssey.” Kathryn looked up to see
her companions startled expression. “That’s our escort.”

“Escort? Five Sovereign
and galaxy class ships as escort?” Requcha knew this wasn’t right
and wavered between her loyalty to fleet and the welfare of her new friend.
“Kathryn this isn’t a war zone, there is no reason to –unless…”

“Unless what?” She
stood and came around the desk, holding up her hand to silence Rezucha.
“NO, Rezucha---Captain, don’t say anything that might jeopardize your career.”

“Kathryn, It’s just…”

“It’s OK. You never
heard this, you and I never had this discussion. Understood?”

“Yes, Ma’am.”

“Good, now why don’t you
see to your ship and let me see to mine.”

“Yes, I have some matters
to attend to.” She rose and started toward the door. “Kathryn,
good luck.” She said just before exiting the ready room.”

Kathryn had five days to
ponder this strange twist before the escort was due to arrive, but her
decision didn’t take that long. A second transmission was patched
to her ready room, this one from Admiral Paris. It was a short welcome
home message, but sounded stilted and not at all what she expected from
her former mentor and friend. It took her several hours to realize
it and two more to decode the encryption, but when she did the message
was clear.

“Janeway to Chakotay”

“Chakotay here, Captain.”

“Commander, can I speak
with you in my ready room?”

“On my way--- Chakotay
out.”

She replicated coffee for
herself and tea for the Commander and waited on the couch. He wasn’t
long.

“Come in, Chakotay.”
She answered the chime and knew from his expression, that he sensed a big
problem as soon as he saw her. She almost laughed—he knew her too
well.

“Come sit, Chakotay.”
She waved him down beside her. “Yes something has happened and I
need your honest opinion.”

“Well that you know you
will get; even when you don’t want it.” The both laughed at the truth
in that statement.

“OK, First of all, our
escort will be here in five days..” He nodded and she continued.
“They are sending The Enterprise, the Yamato, the Venture, the Galaxy and
the Odyssey.” She saw his eyes widen, he understood the meaning of
five such powerful ship just as quickly as she did.

“Have they told you anything
else?”

“So you think this means
trouble too?”

“Of course it means trouble.”
He ran his fingers through he hair. “Kathryn, we are one little intrepid
ship, not even at out best, with only half a crew--- a crew that certainly
has seen better days –and they send that kind of power to escort us through
peaceful space?!”

“I know, I feel the same
way.” She took his hand. “There’s more.”

“The Maquis?”

“Yes that’s part of it.
I received an encrypted message from a trusted friend, he outlined some
of Fleets plans.”

“Kathryn, I know you have
always had great faith in Fleet, but its not the same for me. I always
believed I would be imprisoned upon our return.”

“Yes, they have those plans
for you—make an example of you. They plan on imprisoning all the remaining
former maquis and celebrating the remaining starfleet crew—with one exception.”

“You?”

“Yes, the are talking court-marshal---Oh,
he doesn’t believe they will do it—just use it as leverage to get me to
retire quietly. Not to interfere in the treatment of the maquis or
make a public fuss. They think I have been out here too long on my
own and I won’t fit into their structure anymore.” She laughed.
“And hell, maybe they are right.” She got up to replicate more coffee.
“They have a deal for you too.”

“I expected as much.”

“Life in prison in exchange
for the pardon of the remainder of your crew.”

“I see.” He watched
her slowly walk back and place their cup on the low table. “And will
you take their deal, Kathryn.”

“No---You?”

“I don’t see much choice
and I really didn’t expect anything different.”

“I did.” They sat
quietly for a few minutes each studying the other, as they considered their
limited options. “Chakotay, I’m not going back.”

“What?! We are back.
We have five war ship warping in our direction…..”

“I’m aware of that, but
I’m not going back---it’s not home anymore.” She stood and crossed
to the view port. “I intend to offer the choice to the crew.
Anyone who wants to go home can transfer to the Deliverance—or if no one
wants to stay I will take the delta flyer—but I’m not going back.”

“Kathryn, have you thought
about this? You’d be a wanted criminal, never able to return to earth,
see your family…”

“Of course I’ve thought
about this. I love my mother and my sister and I have longed to see
them for these long seven years, but..” She turned to face him.
“My family is here. Are you with me, Chakotay?” She held out
her hand to him and he grasped it in both of his

“Always, Kathryn.”
He pulled her to him, holding her close. “Where ever you go, I will
always be by your side. I promised you that seven years ago and I
will always keep that promise or die trying.”

They talked first to the
senior staff, all of them, including Tuvok, were instantly agreeable.
They formulated a plan to enhance the shields, and bring on line the cloaking
device Seven had devised years earlier. By diverting most of their
energy to this devise they could travel at warp speed undetected, hopefully
until they were well out of federation space. They would need to
find a planet, out side the jurisdiction of the Federation, on which to
settle. Voyager would be making one last run and they all knew she couldn’t
continue much beyond that.

The crew assembled in the
holodeck, and silently listened to the Captain’s explanation and
plan. Each crewman was offered the opportunity to return to earth
aboard the Deliverance or to take their chances with Voyager and each in
turn chose to stay aboard. The crew set about checking and rechecking
and preparing Voyager for the race of her life. Supplies were ‘acquired’
from the Deliverance, spare parts and energy cells, emergency and medical
supplies and anything the crew though would go relatively unnoticed and
might be useful in their new lives.

Two days later, in what
the computer determined was the middle of the night, with the cloak ready
and Voyager in the best shape she was gonna achieve, they quietly slipped
away, leaving the Deliverance alone to wait for the escort. It was
several hours before the crew of the Deliverance realized they were alone
and awoke their Captain.

Captain Siegel, made her
way to the bridge; perhaps a little slower than she normally did.
She had officially been kept in the dark, by both Starfleet and Captain
Janeway, even though she was sure she knew what had happened. She scanned
for Voyager and made a half hearted attempt to search the area, but she
had no orders to hold Voyager or her crew, so there was no urgency in reporting
them missing. After several more hours she contacted fleet and reported
the disappearance of Voyager.

The Deliverance was ordered
to hold her position until the escort arrived, which took another three
days. Together they searched the area for signs of the missing ship.
They found nothing. The search continued for almost a month, but
Captain Janeway and crew had done their work well. The Cloak protected
them from long range sensors and B’Elanna’s masking of the warp signature
allowed them to make a clean break without leaving a trail.

~~~^^^~~~

After a sometime harrowing
six months alone and on the run, Voyager found a sparsely inhabited M class,
the inhabitants called Melriysks, well outside the jurisdiction of the
Federation. The civilization, though small, was fairly well advanced
technologically and more than happy to welcome the small band of new comers.
Voyager was put to rest, many of her components used to create a new life
for her former crew. It was a good life, the crew blended and worked
well with the existing culture and the new community thrived.

Over the next ten years
the crew of Voyager built a good life on Meltriysks, they inter married
raised families and worked hard. Kathryn, Chakotay and Tuvok had
worked closely with the governing officials in the first years, to ensure
a smooth integration of the crew into Meltriysk society. Two years
after their arrival, the entire crew were granted full citizenship, they
were finally home.

It was a good life, very
different from what they had known, but a good life. Kathryn and
Chakotay eventually settled in a small home well out side the city.
It was quiet and peaceful out there and the transport station was only
a short pleasant walk, so they could be in the city quickly if needed.
Kathryn had recently left her position with the government and now occasionally
taught at the university, where Chakotay held a full time position, but
a good deal of their time, they spent quietly together in there small house.

It was on such quiet morning,
they were enjoying a late breakfast when the door chimed. Kathryn
answered, surprised to find her friend, and recently elected Prime minister,
standing on her porch.

“Bystrik, Hello. What brings
you out here?” She stepped back to allow him to enter.

“Good morning, Kathryn,
I hope I am not intruding.” He stepped past her.

“Not at all, come in and
have coffee with us.” She led him into the kitchen where the three
quickly settled around the table. “So, Bystrik, I have the feeling
this is not just a social visit.”

“No, it is not. I
need to discuss something with you.” He looked carefully from one
to the other. “We have been conducting some what secret negotiations
with --- the Federation..” His voice trailed off as he waited for
their reactions.

“I see.” Kathryn
reached for Chakotay’s hand. “And you have made progress?”

“Yes. We have been
offered an alliance with them.” He sipped his coffee before continuing.
“As leaders—I know unofficial leaders -- of your sector of the community,
I wanted to discuss this with you before if becomes public.”

“We appreciate that, Bystrik.”
Chakotay studied their friend. “ I assume our presence here has had
an effect on the negotiations.”

“Yes, but not what you
might think. The Federation has much to offer us, but we have existed
nicely without them and are most willing to continue.”

“Have the negotiations
concluded? Will we be joining the federation?” Kathryn didn’t believe
such a move would be made entirely in secret but she needed to be sure.

“Yes, they are complete—I
believe, but no action will be taken until we have a consensus of the people.
An open vote will be take within the next few months.”

“I see and you would like
our help?”

“Yes, I believe this is
a positive move for Melriysks and would in the long term be beneficial
to all our people.”

“And you are afraid the
my former crew would object to the treaty.”

“I have my doubts, I do
not know all of them as well as you do. I do not know if they harbor
ill feeling toward the Federation or not. I need you to help
me with this.”

“The question here is-
does the Federation hold ill feeling toward us.” Kathryn refilled
their cups as she spoke. “We are, to the best of my knowledge, wanted
criminals in Federation territory.”

“The issue has been addressed..”
He had to smile at their surprise. “You didn’t have such little faith
in your new home world as to think we would endanger you in anyway—especially
after the many important contribution you and your former crew have made
to our society?”

“We are but a small segment
of the whole—you have many more to consider than us.”

“At first I was cautious,
I tried to secure promises without reveling your whereabouts. I insisted
that all citizens, natural and naturalized be treated equally, and requested
blanket immunity for any past deed of any citizen of Melriysks.”

“It didn’t work?”

“Well it did, but it turned
out not to be necessary.” He smiled and laughed for the first time
since he sat down. “I met a friend of yours.”

“Oh I wasn’t aware I had
any friends in the Federation.” Kathryn smiled back.

“Well apparently you do
and many more than you could imagine. Admiral Paris told me…”

“You met Owen—god how is
he?”

“He is well and sends his
regards, but he also told me they have know of your whereabouts for the
past six years and that many of your friends have been working behind the
scenes in your behalf.” He watched them as they smiled at one another.
“Under this agreement, full pardons will be granted to the entire crew
of Voyager and you will be free to return to Earth or any other federation
planet of your choice.”

“Ohmygod, Chakotay we could
go home. My mother, sister I wonder ---god this is wonderful.”
She had tears in her eyes when she looked back at Bystrik. “Thank
you.”

“You are very welcome,
Kathryn. I will miss you.”

“Miss me? I won't
be gone that long –a few months no more.”

“I thought you would return
home, to Earth, to your family.”

“Bystrik, I am so grateful
for the opportunity to see my mother and sister and visit Earth, but this
is home. This is where I want to live.”

“Then I am doubly happy
to have help in this matter and I assume I can count on your assistance
with this?”

“We will be happy to help.”

~~~^^^~~~

It was almost another year
before the treaty was finalized and the Voyagers were officially pardoned
and free to travel in federation space. A few moved their families
to other planets, but most, like Kathryn and Chakotay, stayed on Melriysks—there
adopted homeworld. Everyone however made visits almost before the
ink was dry on the treaty.

Kathryn spent time with
her mother and sister, introducing Chakotay and meeting all her nieces
and nephews. They had almost eighteen years to catch up on and spent
many long hours talking, often well into the wee hours of the morning.
There were so many gatherings, they spent a very busy and mostly sleepless
month before preparing to return to Melriysks. It was a sad good-bye
and this was her last stop before transporting to San Francisco and returning
home.

“He understands, Kathryn.”
He stepped up behind her, quietly enfolding her in his arms

“Do you really think so?”
She leaned into him with a sigh.

“Yes, He would be very
proud of his little golden bird. She was a true Starfleet Captain
and she brought her crew home, she sacrificed for them. She loved
and protected them and they stood with her, loyal through it all. Yes,
he must be very proud.” He held her quietly, feeling the silent tears
drip onto his arms, then she turned and smiled.

“Thank you, Let’s go home.”
She smiled and took his hand, turning once more toward the decorative stone.
“Good bye, Daddy.”